1
as in joke
something said or done to cause laughter
the film's sophisticated drolleries will elicit smiles and chuckles even upon repeated viewings
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in humor
the amusing quality or element in something
though generally serious, the novel about a seriously dysfunctional family is not without drollery
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of drollery
He is played by Ethan Hawke, a mainstay of Linklater’s movies, in a remarkable amalgam of bitterness, exuberance, drollery, tenderness, frustration, and tremendous artistic passion.
—
Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2025
Matthew Rankin’s latest surreal comedy, between hilarious drollery and bitter disillusionment.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024
He is played by Ethan Hawke, a mainstay of Linklater’s movies, in a remarkable amalgam of bitterness, exuberance, drollery, tenderness, frustration, and tremendous artistic passion.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2025
Matthew Rankin’s latest surreal comedy, between hilarious drollery and bitter disillusionment.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024
His ambition and synthetic public persona are the butt of countless withering drolleries.
—Giles Harvey, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
Griffin’s front-court mate DeAndre Jordan, although deeply intense, mirrored Griffin’s drollery in candid postgame interviews.
—Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker, 3 July 2024
But his method is mostly charging into the fray, shouting battle cries or tossing out Australian drollery.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 May 2024
The starry cast runs full force with his nesting-doll plots and deadpan drolleries, the color palette comes saturated in a Pantone riot of blues, pinks and egg-yolk yellows, and the tone flips nimbly from tender to absurd, more Dahl sweetness than arsenic.
—Leah Greenblatt, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2025
Matthew Rankin’s latest surreal comedy, between hilarious drollery and bitter disillusionment.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024
He is played by Ethan Hawke, a mainstay of Linklater’s movies, in a remarkable amalgam of bitterness, exuberance, drollery, tenderness, frustration, and tremendous artistic passion.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2025
Matthew Rankin’s latest surreal comedy, between hilarious drollery and bitter disillusionment.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024
His ambition and synthetic public persona are the butt of countless withering drolleries.
—Giles Harvey, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
Griffin’s front-court mate DeAndre Jordan, although deeply intense, mirrored Griffin’s drollery in candid postgame interviews.
—Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker, 3 July 2024
But his method is mostly charging into the fray, shouting battle cries or tossing out Australian drollery.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 May 2024
The starry cast runs full force with his nesting-doll plots and deadpan drolleries, the color palette comes saturated in a Pantone riot of blues, pinks and egg-yolk yellows, and the tone flips nimbly from tender to absurd, more Dahl sweetness than arsenic.
—Leah Greenblatt, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drollery
Noun
-
Trump sued Maher in 2013 for $5 million after the comedian made a crass joke about his mother and an orangutan.—
Steff Danielle Thomas,
The Hill,
19 Apr. 2025
-
Andrews adds musical interludes, which don’t always work, and brutal jokes, which do.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Instead of shaping stories that convince, craft absorbing narratives that evoke raw emotion—humor, suspense, passion, disgust and even fear.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
21 Apr. 2025
-
Like a Dickensian Andy Capp, Johnson is an uber-charming rogue, an everyman bluesy belter whose winking humor with a hint of the scoundrel are not entirely unlike Scott’s demeanor, though each man’s vocals, inflection and stage presence are/were clearly their own.—
Katherine Turman,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
That sort of showboating elicits laughs from TV audiences, partly because today's younger shoppers are spending less on pricey goods and more on luxury experiences.—
Marco della Cava,
USA Today,
19 Apr. 2025
-
Sharing good laughs goes a long way to strengthening connections and relationships.—
Liz Guthridge,
Forbes.com,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
The irony is that the film’s screenwriter, Sam Stefanak, came from the world of comedy.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
15 Apr. 2025
-
The ultimate irony, of course, is that Tennessee actually took the NCAA to court to give Iamaleava the right to receive that first NIL deal.—
Ryan Kartje,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
In a perfectly coifed wig, with a sly smile and endless witticisms, Snook takes on 26 different roles across the show's nearly two hour runtime.—
Shania Russell,
EW.com,
28 Mar. 2025
-
Throughout, Snook hams for laughs, turning Wilde’s witticisms and epigrams into slapstick.—
Christian Lewis,
Variety,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Examples include Africa United, a comedy about young Rwandan soccer players; The Trial of Jeff David, a true crime podcast detailing the lives of former slaves falsely accused of murder in the 1800s; and Black Enuf, a cartoon about LGBT hip-hop lovers.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
24 Apr. 2025
-
Glickman knew that a successful relaunch required one essential ingredient — the involvement of Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Keenen Ivory Wayans, the siblings who gave those popular comedies their subversive spark.—
Katcy Stephan,
Variety,
23 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Drollery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drollery. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share